Today's mobile device user expects the mobile device to not only provide reliable communication, but also to offer security and protection against threats to use of the mobile device, data stored on the mobile device, and operations performed by the mobile device. The threats are many: an unauthorized user, a lost or stolen mobile device, an unintended use of the mobile device (e.g., eavesdropping through a microphone on the mobile device), malware or spyware that may compromise data or applications on the mobile device, or communication from the mobile device to unintended recipients. Each of these may compromise security of the mobile device, a user of the mobile device, or data stored on the mobile device.
Conventional mobile device architecture relies on a System on Chip (SoC) component having memory and multiple processing cores to operate the mobile device. Security against threats to the mobile device typically relies upon functionality provided by a single secure element separate and disparate from the SoC component, such as a Trusted Platform Module (TPM) component or a discrete Secure Element (SE) component. The TPM/SE component can, for example, receive signals and, based on the signals, perform security operations directed to authentication services, such as authenticating passwords, encryption keys, or certificates in order to protect data stored on the mobile device. The use of the TPM/SE component, however, has limitations with regards to directly operating or controlling the mobile device. If, for example, the TPM/SE component itself is consumed performing an authentication security operation or if the TPM/SE component itself is compromised, a security operation direct to enabling or curtailing mobile device functionality may not be executable.